Living History: The Somme Battlefields
World War One
•
24m
The Battle of the Somme, which began on 1 July 1916, is remembered as one of the bloodiest events of the First World War. On the first day of the offensive, one man was killed every 4.4 seconds, making it the bloodiest single day in the history of the British Army. There were over a million casualties sustained by both Allied and German forces by the time the battle had concluded.
Historian Mat McLachlan travels along the Circuit of Remembrance with tour guide John Anderson, visiting the commune of Beaumont-Hamel, the Newfoundland Memorial and the extraordinary World War One collection at Le Tommy Café in Pozières to learn more about the battle and all those who fought in it.
Up Next in World War One
-
The Christmas Truce
On Christmas Eve 1914 many sectors of the Western Front in France and Belgium fell silent. Troops from all sides put down their weapons and sang carols, exchanged gifts and buried their dead in No Man's Land. The following day the truce continued in many, but not all areas, and troops gathered in...
-
Bristol: Aerospace Museum
This was our first city road trip for Snow on the Road - 3 days in Bristol visiting its most interesting historical sites. What's so wonderful about Bristol is how its history is interwoven into the fabric of the city. World treasures like the SS Great Britain and Underfall Yard are visible all a...
-
Avi Shlaim on the Balfour Declaration
Avi Shlaim is Emeritus Professor of International Relations at St Antony's College, Oxford. Here he discusses the background and implications of the historic Balfour Declaration of November 1917.
